favour. He said that he expected them to attack us
almost any day; and that not a night passed but he went
to rest with the thought that he might never waken.
The members of our caravan did not seem convinced
of the friendship of the Rendile; instead of
songs and laughter over their O O food and about their
camp-fire at night, perfect silence reigned, and conversation
was only in whispers. This was the conduct
of the porters and Soudanese. The Somali, however,
had ‘ at every opportunity urged the advisability of
immediate attack upon the Rendile. They said that
a battle would be hard, but that they were convinced
we should succeed, and that then all trouble would be
at an end. We should then possess camels and horses
in great numbers, and be able to travel like gentlemen.
On the occasion when the 4000 camels passed
near our camp, cupidity gleamed from the eyes of
the Somali, and when the last animal passed from
sight, they shook their heads and sighed. The temptation
to take advantage of the vast herds and flocks
of the Rendile was, I may freely confess, a great one.
Their treatment of us had been anything but kindly.
They had accepted our gifts and offer of friendship,
it is true; but in return for these they had given us
little but unfriendly treatment. They were absolutely
unwilling to trade, and both Lieutenant von Hohnel
and I felt that further efforts toward that end would
be useless.
On the other hand, we could not permit ourselves
to fall upon these people, even though the issue of
the present situation would be of most doubtful character,
until they had done something more than to
cheat our expectations. We had food in plenty, and
we felt that the sacrifice of many lives for the sake
of beasts of burden alone was unwarranted. We
realized, nevertheless, that withdrawal from the neighbourhood
would imply to the Rendile that we stood
in fear of them; and with that idea in their minds
the next European who visited their country would
T y p e o f L a n d s c a p e
With people of a warlike nature, such as the Rendile,
the advance of civilization must always be attended
with more or less bloodshed. Their isolation, their
great numbers and consequent confidence, render them
not only averse to friendly overtures, but prone to
turn their power into a means of easy profit by attacking
their visitors.
No African tribe I have yet met preferred trade to
war. Plunder is with them the only means of transacting
exchange, until by severe lessons they are taught
that the people with whom they are brought into